Bill Text: HI HCR59 | 2015 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Hospitality Industry; Chinese Visitors; Hawaii Tourism Authority

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-04-22 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [HCR59 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR59-Amended.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	59
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY TO COORDINATE WITH THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY TO CREATE A MORE WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT FOR CHINESE VISITORS.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the tourism industry constitutes the largest single contributor to the State's gross domestic product, representing approximately 21 percent of its economy; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's top four visitor markets have traditionally been the western United States, eastern United States, Japan, and Canada; and

 

     WHEREAS, in terms of visitor days among the top four markets in 2013, the U.S. West and U.S. East showed flat growth, while Japan and Canada showed only modest gains; and

 

WHEREAS, in contrast, visitor days from Hawaii's Other Asia tourism market (excluding Japan but including China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) increased by 16.5 percent; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is important for the State to diversify its visitor markets so that weakness in a particular market at any given time can be offset by strength in another; and

 

     WHEREAS, a particularly promising source of visitors for Hawaii is the Chinese market; and

 

     WHEREAS, as the economy of China, already the world's second-largest economy, continues to grow, more members of that nation's emerging middle class will be able to afford to travel overseas; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2013, approximately 97,300,000 Chinese citizens traveled abroad, about 1,800,000 of whom visited the United States, and of these visitors, 125,011 arrived in Hawaii and spent an average of $394 per person per day, the highest among all visitor groups, including those from Japan; and

 

     WHEREAS, since November 1, 2012, residents of Taiwan have been able to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program; and

 

     WHEREAS, on November 10, 2014, the governments of the United States and China announced that the two nations would begin granting visas valid for up to a decade to each other's citizens; and

 

     WHEREAS, nonstop air service from Asia to Hawaii has grown significantly recently, including re-established service from Taipei, new service from Beijing, and expanded service from Shanghai; and

 

     WHEREAS, although the absolute number of Chinese travelers to Hawaii is currently a fraction of the number of Japanese visitors to the State, the Chinese market is booming and poised to experience further growth while the Japanese market has plateaued and may decline; and

 

     WHEREAS, over the past few decades, the hospitality industry in Hawaii has gained valuable insights and experience regarding the preferences and expectations of Japanese travelers and has worked diligently to create a welcoming environment for them; and

 

     WHEREAS, as they have with Japanese visitors, it is crucially important that hotels, restaurants, stores, attractions, and other tourism-related businesses in Hawaii take measures to meet the unique needs and expectations of Chinese visitors; and

 

WHEREAS, fostering a visitor environment that is welcoming to any cultural group requires a visitor industry work force that is well-versed in the language, culture, customs, and expectations of that culture; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Hawaii Tourism Authority is urged to coordinate with trade organizations, including the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, Hawaii Restaurant Association, Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, Hawaii Transportation Association, and others in the hospitality industry, to create a more welcoming environment for Chinese visitors; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all tourism-related businesses in Hawaii are urged to, among other things:

 

(1)  Hire additional Chinese-speaking staff;

 

(2)  Provide training in Chinese culture to staff; and

 

     (3)  Make greater use of the Chinese language in signs and other written materials; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Hawaii's congressional delegation is requested to take steps to realize amendments to the H-1B non-immigrant visa "specialty occupation" qualifying criteria to facilitate visa eligibility for foreign workers who have a high degree of specialized knowledge of reading, writing, and speaking at an honorific level to international visitors with an understanding and respect required in visitors' countries of origin to allow Hawaii's visitor industry to recruit and employ the necessary work force to realize these objectives; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Governor, and the interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Report Title: 

Hospitality Industry; Chinese Visitors; Hawaii Tourism Authority